Rather than make this part of my other thread, I figure this will be an extensive enough project that it warrants a thread of its own. Having always been fascinated by the Silver Towers of Tzeentch from Epic, it only recently occurred to me that there isn't anything stopping me from building one for 40k. A quick google search suggests that others have done the same, but there were very few actual pictures of any, just a single very impressive one on CMoN.

So I've looked around for suitable materials to start from, and this is what I've come up with so far for the basic shape. Foam for the round base, a smoothie bottle for the main tower, and a combination of paint pots and green stuff tubes for three side towers.

My main issue is about how to build the tower roofs. The two options I see are card and foam, I will probably start out with card and see how it goes. Suggestions welcome, will post more pics as the project progresses.

massey

21-09-2010, 00:57

There's a very impressive Silver Towers plog from early last year here on Warseer.

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196102

Wishing

21-09-2010, 13:00

Wow, those look amazing! Too bad they were never painted. Mine will never look as good, but no harm in taking a crack at it nonetheless. As you can tell I'm going for a multi-turreted look similar to the epic models rather than a single spire.

Wishing

21-09-2010, 22:48

Made lots of progress on this one today. Here is a pic of how it looks now. I put a dude on the little platform in front of the door because my intention is to place a sorcerer there, looking menacing. Gun turrets will probably go in the smaller side towers.

I get a little puzzled by the replies I get here on the forums sometimes. The first couple of threads I did got lots of replies (I thought so at least) with people being very friendly and encouraging. Nowadays, nobody replies anymore and it's usually just me constantly posting new pics ad nauseum with no comments. Not that I'd want people to post if they had no interest or nothing to say - it just seems odd. Ah well, I'll keep posting regardless. :)

Mr Feral

21-09-2010, 22:52

To be honest, there's not much people can comment on at this early stage in construction. I however applaud you for attempting such a complex and underused War Machine. What are your plans for it modelling-wise?

Wishing

21-09-2010, 22:58

Thanks, fair point. Once I get all of the basic shape in order, which is almost done, I just intend to detail it up with plasticard and cardboard and maybe some bitz like shields here and there. Still haven't worked out exactly how to do the guns. One thing I could see looking really nice would be to get a pack of skulls and do a band of skulls snaking around the base of the main tower.

Mr Feral

21-09-2010, 23:28

The guns are indeed a tricky part, it depends whether you wish to physically represent them as actual guns (of which I'd recommend the gargoyle gun tip replacement heads from the Chaos Vehicle sprue for) or as a barrage of magic attack (in that case, perhaps model a handful of Thralls casting magic out of the towers?)

Trickier still would be the main gun, the Beam of Power. I honestly wouldn't really know how to make that, other than some form of giant magical orb of doom shooting lightning out of it.

I hope my ideas help. :)

Goat of Yuggoth

22-09-2010, 13:32

Or then a massive eye of Tzeentch! Flaming rays of Power and the like.. Lots of glow-effects and flames, and you should do a "vial of daemons" eg. a sort of wall which blisters eyes and mouths..

Just some random stuff I could think of.

Wishing

22-09-2010, 20:09

I quite like the idea of an orb or an eye or something similar to represent a central magical beam-of-power gun, I'll definitely try for that! Thanks! :)

Using the gargoyle heads for gun barrels is a good idea as they look quite magical and tzeentchy, I'll see if I can get a hold of some of them. The daemon faces in the walls sounds good too, if my skills with GS stretch that far.

Wishing

25-10-2010, 14:22

Here are some more WIP shots. It doesn't really look that impressive, but I'm happy with the progress. I think a lot of the details will only come out in painting, for example I hope to make it look like the disc that the tower is built on is a kind of daemonic mushroom.

It is really really hard to get good pics of this that aren't either too dark or too bright. Not sure what I'm doing wrong exactly.

you should totally look into the warhammer online concept art, theres a few of the chaos capital which are good and would be good references.

salvindogath

26-10-2010, 10:13

It looks great Wishing! The 'innocent' smoothie bottle in the bery first picture made me laugh!

Wishing

26-10-2010, 21:36

It looks great Wishing! The 'innocent' smoothie bottle in the bery first picture made me laugh!

Me too - the daemon engine really is innocent deep down. :P

Do you think it's big enough to be a war engine? I'm not sure how much bigger it is than a normal-sized heavy vehicle like a land raider. Next time i take a pic I'll put a rhino in for scale (don't own a land raider).

the damned artificer

27-10-2010, 00:00

It's really cool, Would look awesome alongside a thousand sons army as a lost tower of prospero :D
Great job and awesome to see someone revamping old epic models for 40k!

Hicks

27-10-2010, 06:20

That's a great project and it's looking really good already. Even the tiny Tzeentchian marine looks ace.

magnusorkimedes

30-10-2010, 11:04

It looks great! Keep it up. What is the next step?

/Magnus

magnusorkimedes

30-10-2010, 11:06

How about opening the gates and let flames and horrors dance out of it
and perhaps hinting towards the realm of chaos beyond?

Wishing

31-10-2010, 09:56

Good idea, but my idea is currently to have a sorcerer standing on the platform, like a daemonic tank commander. I like the idea of the tower basically being a huge upgraded version of a disc of tzeentch.

Wishing

02-11-2010, 11:15

Here is a size comparison shot as promised - I guess even though the towers themselves aren't that huge, it is quite tall and seems imposing just because of that. The footprint of it is about the same as a necron monolith I imagine, but it's probably almost as tall as a warhound titan.

I was originally going to use a marine as the commander, but it turns out he does not fit in the space I built, so now I'm going with a cultist/daemon sorcerer instead. Having a smaller sorcerer will have the advantage of making the tower look bigger, and make it look more like a daemon engine and less like a marine vehicle. Haven't quite decided what kind of head to give him - I'm leaning towards a blank mask and a hood.

OK, everything done now and ready for painting. I've started priming it in parts, as I want to be able to hold the sorcerer with just my fingers rather than having him be part of the whole model when I paint him.

My problem is just that I think his face looks a bit naff. I'm thinking of slicing it off and either sculpting a new one or stealing one from somewhere. Any thoughts?

That looks very cool. It's only a fairly light superheavy so it should be about the right size. If you ever want to do something bigger you could make a Warp Palace of Tzeentch.

I really like the little sorcerer's pulpit (and the sorcerer inside it).

salvindogath

08-11-2010, 10:45

Looking very good Wishing! As for the face, what about having an eye slit on one side and a smaller star on the other? That could be a bit fiddly to do though...

Wishing

08-11-2010, 11:20

Thanks! After some deliberation I decided that my impatience to get it finished would win the day, so rather than sculpt a new face I just used a chaos warrior helmet. Not as unique, but still looks the part. Will take new pics once I've got some base colours on the various pieces!

Isn't the Warp Palace a Man O'War model, not 40k?

BigRob

08-11-2010, 21:08

The Man'O'War model is the Bane tower of Tzeentch, which looks very similar to what your building here.

Wishing

08-11-2010, 23:00

Thanks for the clarification. I don't remember an epic model for this Warp Palace, does anyone know what it looked like?

Wishing

09-11-2010, 22:30

Now I've started painting it, I decided that the main side towers are too thick and clunky looking and detracts from a sleek elegance it has without them. However, I can't just leave them off, so I'm debating options - my first idea is to replace them with thinner towers, same ones as the ones near the back. The other option is to not make them towers, but make them look more like gun turrets instead. I'd have no idea how to make such turrets though, maybe from bottlecaps. Hmm, ponder.

Wishing

10-11-2010, 23:57

Some paint has now been applied. Base coats only, and only bits of it, but it's still starting to look like something I think. Hopefully it will stop looking so swedish when it starts getting highlighted...

Looks cool , its good to see the old chaos war-engines being brought back.

massey

12-11-2010, 03:11

But it's not silver. :)

Wishing

12-11-2010, 10:14

True, a bit of false advertising there. Maybe it should be ivory.

Still working on a new prototype turret/tower, which is coming along nicely but is time consuming.

Inandantia

12-11-2010, 12:38

Looking nifty so far, it's nice to see something a bit different. Great touch having the sorcerer propping up the balcony, checking out the view :cool: I actually think I prefer the helmeted head; the round mask with narrow slits, along with the tattered robes had bit of a nurgle look about him.

biginbelgium

12-11-2010, 14:04

That tower looks awesome, indeed great to see more chaos war engines in 40k games. Do you also have a group shot with the army that deploys with it?

cheers
Tim

Wishing

12-11-2010, 22:58

Cheers!

Looking nifty so far, it's nice to see something a bit different. Great touch having the sorcerer propping up the balcony, checking out the view :cool: I actually think I prefer the helmeted head; the round mask with narrow slits, along with the tattered robes had bit of a nurgle look about him.

I agree, plus it gives him an old school chaos kinda feel I think, which I like.

That tower looks awesome, indeed great to see more chaos war engines in 40k games. Do you also have a group shot with the army that deploys with it?

Not yet - my army is khorne and tzeentch, but the tzeentch contingent is not so numerous yet. Once I finish this I will work on some tzeentchian marines and a group shot is definitely on the agenda.

Wishing

20-12-2010, 22:36

It's been a while since the last update - another project distracted me, and this one confounded me a little because I wanted to try and sculpt some faces on the new towers with green stuff, which was intimidating me. I've finished the faces now, though they are a bit rough and I may decide to embellish them at some point, but I'm getting impatient to get this baby finished to that's what I'll focus on for now.

I'll take some shots of the daemon faces once they are done, but for now, this is how the pulpit and the sorcerer commander are looking.

Those faces look awesome. The whole thing is very reminiscent of the Realms of Chaos era, I really dig it. Good work!
Love watching household items become terrifying war machines!

Wishing

14-01-2011, 13:56

Alright, everything is starting to come together now! The side towers are glued in place and painting is progressing well. It's not quite finished, but getting there, so this should be the last WIP shot before the final result.

This is pure awesomeness, really inspiring.
I love the old-school colours.

Wishing

21-01-2011, 11:13

Thanks, much appreciated. :) I'm working on finishing it just now, so there should be final photo shoot pics very soon.

Serpent

21-01-2011, 11:33

That is truly magnificent. I like it. Hell, I'd travel to Denmark just to have it rip my poor plastic guys apart...

mdiscala

22-01-2011, 14:24

Maybe that masked head from the empire wizard sprue? http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=22_68_141&products_id=2404

Edit: Oh didn't realize there was more than one page and its done.... Anyway AWESOME.

BeatTheBeat

22-01-2011, 17:23

Yeah, this definitely deserves more attention! Wonderful end result, always good to see some of the more unusual super heavies. Kudos!

Cheers,
BTB

Raggydoll1979

22-01-2011, 20:09

I love the Space Crusade chaos space marine from the second pic - you made a crappy model look great!

Wishing

24-01-2011, 23:34

Thanks for all the kind recent comments, and for the support all the way through! I think I can finally say this model is done now, I've finished the basing and added some freehand and hopefully touched up all the little details. I may add a bit more freehand detail to some of the empty surfaces at some stage, but for now, I think this can be filed away as a satisfied completed project.

On to some pics. I hope these are sharp and clear, if not I can try and take more shots tomorrow.

When I have daylight tomorrow, I'll take some shots next to some of my other Tzeentchian models for context.

MOMUS

25-01-2011, 12:53

This is really cool wishing, have you thought about raising it off the ground so it looks like its floating around. A bit of dowel or plastic rod would work.

magnusorkimedes

25-01-2011, 13:33

Hey, I was away for a little while and taa-daa you´ve finished the model!

Great work. I looks cool!

/Magnus

harlekin

25-01-2011, 18:43

I fully agree with the others, it looks at firts pretty old school and imo also very cool. And it's probably one of the few silvertowers ever represented with a model^^.

Oh another thing at last: nice to see oldschool tinkering with paperboard and crude plastic working;)

Wishing

26-01-2011, 00:12

Thanks! It feels good to have completed the project, that's for sure. It looks a bit crude compared with a real 40k vehicle, but at least it stands out with its bright colours and doesn't look too out of place.

This is really cool wishing, have you thought about raising it off the ground so it looks like its floating around. A bit of dowel or plastic rod would work.

I hadn't actually, mainly because I wanted it to be as sturdy as possible, and I wouldn't want a thin connecting point supporting the whole structure as it would be a prime breaking point. I also think it looks OK without, as the base will be in shadow most of the time (light coming from above, not below), so you don't really notice the mound of dirt holding it up when it's on the table. :)

One question - several people have commented that the model looks very old school. I don't mind this at all, but as this wasn't a conscious choice on my part, I am wondering what the difference looks-wise is between old school and fresh new chaos? Unless it's just old school to base a model around a plastic bottle. :)

Grindgodgrind

26-01-2011, 00:54

Been a while since I posted here, but hats off, this is awesome!

harlekin

26-01-2011, 01:29

Difficult to say, whats oldschool, mainly because I'm probably to young (just over 20) and not long enough in the hobby to really know what's 'oldschool'.
Maybe it's similar to the comparison between the "normal" or contemporary Chaos Space Marine and the classic ones out of the mail-order-only-section. Their proportions are different to the contemp. plastics (for example classics CSm don't have a neck, but a giant helmet for example, the paintstyle is different etc.).
I think 'oldschool' is probably subjective nostalgia for everyone else.

For me classic sculptings have their own proportions, attached colours and are some kind of humerous. Oldschool Noise marines, have Bass-guitar-guns (meaning not bass-style like the contemporary balstmaster, but actual guitars) and are styled like glamrockers. So maybe it's "comic" style? (Not to say WoW:P - but that would be ok for me, because I like WC3 :D)

Regarding your very nice model, I think, "modern style" moedls would be shaped a bit different, more fine-textured or so. That doesn't mean, it would not be great and "right" this way. Oh and nevermidn to "crude" - I just thought about tinkering with paper and glue/cement and other things compared with greenstuff, and sculptingutilities.

I guess if I think about the classic rogue trader rhino and compare it to the modern rhino, the old one has mainly simple flat surfaces all over, whereas the new one has much more detail built into the surface, giving it a more complex and hi-tech texture. The tower here definitely resembles the old rhino more! Since I was most active buying and painting models during 2nd edition, I guess it makes sense that I'm comfortable with this style.

Looks awesome! You should be very proud.
For me an old-school look suggests weirdness. I think older chaos models simply looked stranger than their modern contemporaries, more warped and less recognisable as space marines gone spiky. Trends in painting come and go but personally I think that some armies, like orks and chaos, will always look better painted in a darker Blanchian style.
There is also something strange about your tower because it is unique as you've done it yourself. A forgeworld kit of the silver tower would be great, but yours would always look more old-school simply because I associate the olden days of GW as a time when you had to convert more models yourself because they simply weren't available. So, yes- making models out of plastic bottles is definitely old-school :D

Ooops- sorry for the threadomancy... Checked the date of the last post, saw 4th of feb 2011 and thought it was yesterday- not a whole year ago. 2012 obviously hasn't sunk in yet for me....:(

Wishing

05-02-2012, 23:48

Hehe, I certainly don't mind, thanks for all the kind comments!

Tzarinchilla

06-02-2012, 12:08

Now this is the Chaos I love and want to see more of. Old school chaos had character and many people on these forums are spending time putting that character back into their forces. You wishing have done that and in a big way. I'd love to see a game being played with stuff like this in it as it's so evocative of the actual background unlike a lot of the basic miniatures. Add to this the fact that you have given it a great paintjob. You should be very pleased. Looking forward to seeing it next to some of your models.

Wishing

07-02-2012, 22:59

Thank you very much! I forgot that I promised some group shots, but here is what I could come up with this morning.

Sorry that I don't have an attractive painting table to feature as background, that would have been nice. I still intend to add some more freehand detail some day, and maybe I'll even be able to field it in battle some day too. :)

horacus

08-02-2012, 23:09

Really nice

mrtn

09-02-2012, 15:27

I missed this the first time around, glad it was bumped so I could get to see it. Looking good! :)

Wishing

10-02-2012, 09:41

Thanks! :)

Alas I just dropped a pair of trousers on this model (shouldn't have left it out) which broke off the two smaller towers. Need to see about pinning those on so they are less fragile in the future...

Skits

11-02-2012, 05:58

Glad this thread got bumped! :D That tower looks awesome, and as a Thousand Sons player myself, I would so field that with my army. And eek, damage! D: Good luck repairing it!

Hope you get to actually field it sometime, too. I fielded one once, and the 4+ cover save to all the tanks we'd put around it made the opponent's Ork Stompa (and the rest of the opponent army!) cry. XD